Minnoka school board cancels day off to help fill snow days

MINOOKA – The Minooka Community High School board has canceled a scheduled day off in order to help accommodate the five snow days the district has had to take recently.

The board debated how to handle the district’s snow days during last week’s meeting.

The first decision made was to have school Feb. 28. That will make up one of the snow days. The scheduled teachers institute day will be pushed to the end of the semester.

The school board also decided to move the last day of student attendance to May 30 for freshmen, sophomores and juniors. Seniors will take their finals May 14 and 15 – May 15 will be their last day of school. Graduation will be May 18.

The board considered several different graduation dates, considering the Memorial Day weekend, several sports commitments and when an alternative venue would be available should it rain. The number of days between finals and graduation was shortened, which the board said may make it more difficult for teachers to have adequate time to prepare grades, and notify parents of the students who may not be graduating. But in the end, the board decided the date chosen was the best option.

The board also made several approvals, including a change in the district’s transportation plan, which is estimated to save the district $75,000 a year. According to Finance and Business Manager John Bryk, the board approved creating three new full-time bus driver positions that will cover the 17 mid-day routes to and from Grundy Area Vocational Center and Premier Academy, and the shuttle buses that transport students between the two Minooka high school buildings.

Also approved was an athletic training services contract with ATI Physical Therapy for athletic training services, pregame taping, game training supervision and medical assistance during athletic programs for the 2014-15 school year. ATI will give the high school two athletic trainers for 80 hours a week for a cost of $60,000 for the year, with additional fees if the trainers are to attend an out-of-town event and stay overnight.

The school board also approved extending the district’s current food service contract with Quest Food Management Services of Lombard for the 2014-15 school year. In the contract, Quest guarantees the district a net revenue of $75,000.

After executive session, the board also approved hiring Jill Nehring as interim instructional leader for math; Carol Whiteaker as teacher for Project Indian; and Nicole Jurek as special education aide.

The board also accepted Bob Flynn’s retirement from full-time athletic trainer, and then approved Flynn as a part-time, at-will athletic trainer for the district. The resignation of Dennis Fisher as technology aide also was accepted.